A Hong Kong-based reporter for the Wall Street Journal was fired from the paper shortly after he was elected president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association.
Selena Cheng, the reporter, said at a news conference Wednesday that she believes it has to do with her role as head of the organization. He said he came under pressure from his boss to leave the union.
Cheng said the day before the HKJA election, his supervisors advised him to withdraw his candidacy and leave the HKJA board, of which he has been a member since 2021. He rejected their demands.
« [I] « I was immediately informed that this was not relevant to my work, » Cheng said.
The HKJA is considered a trade union, and under Hong Kong law, it is legal to be an officer of a trade union, a right guaranteed by the Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution.
In an emailed response, a spokeswoman for Wall Street Journal parent company Dow Jones confirmed it had made « personnel changes » on Wednesday, but said it could not comment on specific individuals.
« The Wall Street Journal has been a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world, » the spokesperson added.
Linked to Cheng's position at the HKJA, the suspension would be the latest sign of how wary even large, well-resourced international media companies are about the risks of operating in Hong Kong. China suppresses civil liberties, including freedom of the press.
In the wake of mass protests in 2019, Beijing passed a national security law in Hong Kong that established sentences of up to life in prison for vaguely defined crimes, such as subverting state authority and colluding with foreign powers.
These laws, along with new domestically focused national security laws passed this year, have the effect of reshaping every institution in Hong Kong, from courts to universities and newsrooms. After the passage of the National Security Act, The New York Times moved its Hong Kong digital operation For Seoul, he said there was « uncertainty » about what the changes would mean for its operations and journalism.
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal said it was moving its Asia headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore and laid off several Hong Kong-based reporters. Cheng's stock was not affected at the time, and he continued to work for the city. Cheng, 32, covers the Chinese auto industry, which the Journal said is one of its priority areas. In firing him Wednesday, teachers cited restructuring, he said.
In a statement, the HKJA said the Journal was « not alone » in taking this stance and that other select committee members had been « pressured to resign by their employers ». Earlier, the Journal's management in Hong Kong had told one of its current former correspondents, technology reporter Dan Strump, not to run for president of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong, citing risks to the organization.
The HKJA is a voice group for journalists in Hong Kong, both local and overseas. In a piece earlier this month, China's state mouthpiece Global Times said it « has a bitter history of colluding with separatist politicians to foment riots in Hong Kong » and is « in no way a professional body representing the Hong Kong media ». «
The Global Times highlighted Cheng's report to the Journal, which it said attacked the national security law, and a report by two panelists: James Griffiths, a reporter for the Canada-based Globe and Mail, and Theodora Yu, a freelance former Washington Post employee.
Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang Ping-kyung also attacked the HKJA, saying it stood with a « violent gang dressed in black » during the 2019 protests.
In its statement, the HKJA called on all media working in China to « allow their staff to freely advocate for press freedom and better working conditions in solidarity with fellow journalists in Hong Kong and China ».
